No one likes the monthly ritual of opening bills, handwriting checks, addressing envelopes, and going to the post office to mail them. Many banks now provide free online bill pay services (sometimes spelled “billpay”), allowing you to save all that time (and money, too!). Some banks charge a few dollars per month for online bill pay service, but so many banks now have free online bill pay that charges are easily avoided.

Free online bill pay allows you to make an electronic bill payment to almost any business or individual quickly and simply. Many large service providers like Comcast or Sprint issue eBills directly to your online banking interface. Executing an electronic bill payment to the biller then takes only a few clicks. Online bill paying services can also cut and send physical checks to smaller service providers like landlords or music teachers.

The advantages of free online bill paying outweigh the limited disadvantages. Online bill pay can be set up to automatically pay incoming eBills, including those of variable size, or send periodic physical checks, making it easy to pay bills on time. Online bill paying helps the environment and simplifies life by reducing paper waste and paper recordkeeping. Lastly, paying bills online saves money otherwise spent on postage and check-ordering!

On the other hand, automatic bill pay can lead to overdraft charges if holders are unaware of their low account balance and an eBill is automatically paid. And while it’s a rare occurrence, automatic online bill pay services can make a mistake and transfer too much or too little money. It pays to check your bank statements to mitigate these risks.

In addition to helping you compare banks based on their proximity, fees, no-ATM-fees policies, joint account provision, and more, BankFox continually scours bank websites to determine which banks have free online bill pay services. BankFox’s savings account and checking account pages have the most up-to-date information, but below are a few examples of banks with free online bill pay service: